Don't ever say you just tolerate me
by Ikweetnietgoedwaarom
Summary: A close encounter with Chloe Beale leaves Beca confused.
1. Chapter 1

She didn't know what exactly was happening when two strong hands pushed her against the wall. Or how she ended up in this situation. Before she could even registrate or react to what was happening, she could feel the soft lips on her own.

The moment she felt those lips, every thought she had stopped. Her body took over and kissed those lips back.

The moment she did realised what was happening, she immediately broke off the kiss.

"Just what I thought" the other woman said with a radiant smile.

"What the hell?" was the only sentence she could form.

The other woman didn't respond to her question. Instead she kissed her again. This time her body betrayed her again and she kissed her back.

Their second kiss was more controlled and lasted longer than their first kiss. Just when she thought she would pass out due to the lack of oxygen, the other woman broke off the kiss.

"Don't ever again say that you just tolerate me" the woman said.

Like nothing had happened seconds before, the woman left, leaving her completely flabbergasted and confused about what the hell just happened.

Still confused as hell, she got in her car. She called her best friend.

"Stace, are you at home?" she immediately asked when her best friend answered her call.

"Yes, why?" Stacie asked.

"Good. I'll be there in ten" she said and ended the conversation, not even bothering to answer her friends question.

She drove well over the speed limit and arrived at her friends house in less than ten minutes. Before she exited her car, she grabbed the flight attended suit that was supposed to be their uniform and the heels she hated so much.

She didn't even had to knock because Stacie was already waiting for her at the door.

The tall brunette looked concerned at her when she stormed in.

"I don't know how you're going to do it, but here are my uniform, scarf and shoes" she yelled as she threw the items at her best friend.

"What am I supposed to do with it?" Stacie asked her amused.

"I don't care. Burn it. But I'm done with the Bellas and I quit immediately" she yelled in frustration.

"Woah, calm down. What happened?" Stacie asked her confused.

"Chloe Beale happened" she answered.

"What did she do this time?" the tall brunette asked with a hint of humour in her voice.

"It doesn't matter what she did. I just don't want to see her again. Please tell Aubrey I'm sorry" she responded.

"Beca wait!" she could hear her friend yell.

She didn't stop. She got back in her car and drove to her house. When she was comfortable in her bed she turned off her phone. She had enough of today and all she wanted to do was sleep.

For some reason she couldn't sleep. Her mind constantly repeated the kisses. Chloe's voice kept going through her head saying the same thing over and over.

"Don't ever again say that you just tolerate me."


	2. Chapter 2

Stacie was contemplating her options. Option one was to go to Aubrey in person and tell her that Beca was quitting the Bellas immediately.

The second option was going directly to Chloe. Ask her what she had done that upset her best friend so much that she quit the one thing she loved.

Option three was waiting until tomorrow's rehearsal and then tell everyone at once that Beca was quitting and why.

She had tried to reach her stubborn best friend but Beca had turned off her phone. She didn't react to the various emails she had been sending. Stacie knew that if she would go over to her friends house, Beca wouldn't open the door.

That brought her back to her options. She didn't feel much for the first to options. She wasn't easily scared but delivering such news when she was alone with Aubrey didn't seem like a good idea. She already could picture how the blonde would react. And she didn't want to clean up someone else's vomit. Or worse, she didn't want to be covered in someone else's vomit.

She didn't feel much for option two because she hadn't got a clue what the redhead had done this time. It must've been something bad otherwise Beca wouldn't have reacted so strongly. On the other hand, Chloe was one of the sweetest persons she knew. She could imagine that the redhead would do something really bad or something that would hurt another person.

So option three it was. Besides it would be fun to see how everyone would react to this sudden news. The Bellas wouldn't be happy with the news, and knowing them they would come up with the most strange scenarios of what had happened.

Secretly, Stacie wanted to see how Chloe would react when she dropped the news in a full room. Maybe she could guess what happened after seeing Chloe react to what she was going to tell. Either way it was going to be an interesting rehearsal tomorrow.

"Has anyone seen Beca? She's late again."

Aubrey didn't even bother to hide her annoyance. She totally had had it with the alt girl.

"I've seen her yesterday. She came by to tell me she quit the Bellas immediately and gave me her uniform scarf and heels. Oh, and she ask me to apologise to you for the inconvenience, Aubrey" Stacie said.

Everyone besides Chloe looked surprised at this announcement. Stacie looked better at the redhead and saw that she looked guilty. She even blushed a little.

"Well, I can't say I'm surprised. I told you all she wasn't a Bella" the blonde captain said triumphantly.

"You're so wrong!" Stacie said quickly to defend her best friend.

"Explain" Aubrey only said.

"Yesterday she came by visibly upset. She literally threw her uniform at me and yelled that she was quitting immediately. This was so out of character, that I was concerned. So I asked her what happened. Chloe Beale happened she said. She refused to tell me what happened. She stormed out got in het car and drove off. Since then I haven't heard from her anymore" Stacie said while looking the redhead directly in the eyes.

Everyone's attention was now turned to Chloe. Stacie couldn't surpress a smile when she saw the redheads face. The colour of her face now matched her hair and she looked very guilty.

"Chloe, do want to share what happened yesterday?" Aubrey asked.

Instead of answering the question, the redhead stormed out.

"Aca awkward" Fat Amy commented.

That comment described the situation perfectly.

"I guess rehearsal is cancelled for today" Aubrey said before following her best friend.


	3. Chapter 3

It had been fifty-six hours, eleven minutes and forty-eight seconds since Chloe had kissed her. Twice. Not that she'd been counting or anything.

Every time she shut her eyes, the image kept playing in her mind. The full HD uncut version of it. It's not like she wanted to but the image seemed to be permanently etched in her memory. It was like it was a scene of a movie that was played on repeat. Constantly.

Beca didn't know why the events freaked her out so much. It wasn't like she felt intimidated by the redhead or something. She knew Chloe and her lack for personal space for quite some time now. So she shouldn't have been surprised that this eventually happened.

But why was she so freaked out about this? It was a question that kept going through her mind ever since she got home from Stacie's.

She wasn't afraid of who she was. She knew she was gay since she fell in love with Emma Richards in middle school. She had embraced that side of her personality and had her fair share of girlfriends ever since. So why was this different? Why did she have a personal breakdown since the redhead had kissed her?

She tossed and turned again, trying to finally get some sleep. Something that she tried ever since she came home. But to no avail. The image of Chloe kissing her kept going in her mind and stopping her from her much needed sleep.

"Get yourself together, Mitchell" she said to herself as she got up.

 _Aubrey & Chloe's appartement _

" _Chloe, are you in there?" Aubrey asked as she stood in front of the closed door of Chloe's room._

" _Go away. I don't want to talk about it" came the muffled response._

" _I know sweetie. I just want to be sure you're alright" the blonde said softly._

" _I'm fine. I just need some time okay" came the response._

" _Okay, I leave you to yourself. If you need me, you know where to find me" Aubrey said before retreating to her own room._

 _Chloe didn't know why she did what she did. She didn't mean for this to happen. It was never her intention to scare the younger girl. She didn't know what had came over her that made her push the other girl into the wall and kiss her. It was certainly not her intention to make Beca quit the Bellas because of this._

 _She realised that she owed the other girl an apology. Probably an explanation too. But that was the problem. She didn't have an explanation for her behaviour._

 _It was like some stronger force had taken over and made her do this. She knew that she lacked seriously personal space boundaries but it never made her do anything like this before._

 _She couldn't deny that she had feelings for the younger girl. From the first day they've met, she had felt and unexplainable desire for the girl._

 _All this time she had tried to control her feelings around Beca. True, she had teased her and flirted but nothing more serious than that._

 _Over and over she kept playing the scene in her mind. The younger girls lips had felt as soft as she had imagined. She didn't regret kissing Beca, she realised._

 _She however regretted the way she handled the situation. She would never forget the shocked look on the other girls face when she kissed her. But that image was quickly replaced by the fact that the short brunette kissed her back. Not once but twice._

 _After that first kiss, she had released her grip on Beca. The girl easily could have left, but she hadn't. She had kissed her back. That must've meant something, didn't it?_

 _A lot of questions plagued her. What wold happen now? Could she fix this? Would the younger girl press charges against her for sexual harassment?_

 _She knew she had to talk to her best friend and explain things. Hell, she had a lot of explanation to do. Knowing her friends, she knew that by now a lot of wild speculations would go around._

 _She was going to fix this. But first she needed to talk to Beca. Make sure she was okay. Make sure things were okay between them._

 _She knew that visiting the other girl uninvited would likely scare her more. The thought of scaring Beca more than she already had, depressed her instantly. But she had to make it up to her._

 _She grabbed her phone and sent the girl a text message. All she could do now was waiting for a response. She prayed it wasn't to late. Exhaustion washed over her and she fell asleep clinging her phone tightly._


	4. Chapter 4

Four days had passed since Stacie or someone else for that matter had heard or seen Beca.

The short brunette still hadn't turned on her phone and it seemed like she had locked herself in her home.

The tall brunette didn't have anymore patience to wait until her best friend would finally come around to tell what was going on.

Stacie had thought about every possible scenario of what could've happened. But she couldn't think of anything so bad the redhead could have done that Beca needed to hide.

Concerned about her best friend, she had gone to the redhead to find out what had happened. Chloe refused to tell anyone what had happened and the situation was getting out of control.

The redhead didn't go to rehearsals either and without her and Beca things just weren't the same. Aubrey had refused to accept Beca's excuses through Stacie and therefore she was still considered a Bella.

Stacie realised that this situation needed to stop. If no one would do something about it, she would take it upon herself to get the shorter brunette to talk. Whatever it was that had happened, she was convinced that it could be fixed.

So she rummaged through one of her drawers to retrieve Beca's key. If she didn't want to open her door, Stacie would use her right as best friend and let herself in.

 _It took another two days for Beca to come to the conclusion that she didn't hate the fact that Chloe kissed her._

 _It took her another day to finally understand why she had freaked out._

 _She wasn't used to physical contact with anyone. And the way Chloe had approached her had caught her so off guard that she just had shut down._

 _She had needed the past four days in total conclusion to come to the realisation what had happened and what it had meant to her._

 _She also came to the conclusion that maybe she had overreacted a little too much. Instead of taking the time to process things and talk to someone, she had acted on instinct._

 _What had happened wasn't exactly a reason to quit the Bellas or not wanting to see the redhead. It wasn't even enough reason to shut her best friend out._

 _She knew her best friend was worried about her. She had knocked on her door various times the past few days. Just like most of the other Bellas had done. To her surprise, she even had recognised Aubrey's voice amongst them. The redhead was the only Bella that hadn't knocked on her door._

 _After over thinking and locking herself for four days, she thought that it was maybe a good idea to leave her house. Maybe she would feel less confused and frightened if she would take a walk in the universities park. Besides she could use some fresh air. Maybe some grocery shopping would be a good idea too._

 _All she had to do now was find the strength to take a shower and actually go out the door._

" _Come on Mitchell, you can do this" she said to herself._

 _An hour or so later she was freshly showed and ready to go out and face the world again._

 _The moment she opened her front door and stepped outside, she bumped into her best friend._

" _Stacie, what are you doing here?" she asked confused as she saw her friend with her house key in her hand._

" _We need to talk."_


	5. Chapter 5

When she heard the words leaving her best friends mouth, she wanted to run away. She knew she had eventually talk to someone but she wasn't quite ready to tell anyone about what had happened between Chloe and her.

Apparently Stacie knew her better than she thought because before she could run away, the taller brunette lifted her up and carried her back inside her house.

"Dude, put me down!" she yelled angry.

"I will put you down as long as you promise not to run away" Stacie said firmly.

"I promise. Just put me down okay."

"What happened between you and Chloe?" Stacie demanded to know when they sat down.

"Shepushedmeagainstawallandkissedme" Beca said with flushed cheeks of embarrassment.

"What did you say?" Stacie asked not able to understand what Beca had said.

"She pushed me against a wall and kissed me" she repeated.

Stacie couldn't help but to burst out in laughter when she heard the shorter brunettes words.

"Are you done? It's not funny."

"I'm sorry go ahead. Tell me what happened" Stacie said.

"I was just finished with my shift at the radio station when I ran into Chloe. Before I could say hi, she pushed me against the wall and kissed me."

I was to shocked to realise what happened and to my own surprise I kissed her back. When I did realised what was going on, she broke the kiss."

"She looked at me and said 'I thought so'.

"And then she kissed me again. My body betrayed me and I kissed her back. I was still shocked about what was happening though."

"She broke the kiss again."

"She said 'don't ever again say that you just tolerate me', and then she left."

Stacie who had been listening to Beca didn't understand why this left the other girl so shocked that she hid in her house for four days.

"Did you liked it?" Stacie asked.

"At first I was just too shocked. But now four days later I think that I liked it" Beca answered truthfully.

"If you liked it, why did you hid for so long?" Stacie asked curious.

"This whole situation made me think about Jenny. I got scared and just reacted on instinct" Beca said softly.

Stacie immediately felt guilty for laughing at her friend earlier.

"Shit, I'm so sorry. I haven't thought about that bitch" Stacie said apologetically.

"No, me neither. What Chloe did just brought back a lot of bad memories. Things I thought I had finally forgotten" Beca said softly.

Without even noticing herself, Stacie saw that her friend was crying. She did what every best friend would do in such situation. She wrapped her arms around the shorter girl and comforted her until she was calmed down.

"What now?" Stacie asked het after a while.

"I really have no idea. I mean I really like Chloe, I think. But somehow I can't forget what happened. I know that Chloe isn't Jenny but I find it hard to separate the two" Beca said.

"Do you want me to talk to her" Stacie asked.

"I appreciate the offer, but this is something I have to do myself" Beca said.

"If you need me, I'm here for you. Always. Never forget that" Stacie said softly.

"I know Stace. Thank you" Beca replied.

Much later when Stacie had already left, Beca knew it was time to finally face her fears.

With shaking hands she turned on her phone, thinking about what she was going to say to Chloe.


	6. Chapter 6

Chloe's heart skipped a beat when her phone started to buzz. Since she send Beca a message, she hadn't touched her phone. All she had done was waiting until she heard something from the younger girl.

First she didn't want to look. It was probably Aubrey again or one of the other Bellas. Her curiosity won it and het heart nearly stopped beating when she saw it was a message from Beca.

To her surprise, the other girl apologised for her behaviour. She asked if Chloe could forgive her for her reaction and if she had time to come over.

She quickly replied that she had all the time in the world and that she could be there in ten minutes. Beca's reply was quick and simple. She would be home waiting for her.

Chloe quickly got out of her bed and dressed herself in some sweatpants and an old shirt. She put on her shoes and grabbed her purse. She threw her keys and phone in her purse and was on her way to the younger girl.

She knocked on the other girl's door and when Beca opened her heart broke. The girl before her looked like a shadow of the girl she saw just four days ago. Beca seemed extremely nervous and embarrassed.

"Hey" she said as she stepped in.

"Hey" was Beca's soft reply.

She followed the brunette to the living room and the two of them sat down.

"Thank you for coming so soon" Beca said softly and almost shy.

"I should thank you. I should apologise for my behaviour, not you. You didn't do anything wrong. I invaded your personal space and I shouldn't have kissed you without permission" the redhead said.

"Maybe you're right. But I shouldn't have reacted the way I did. I shouldn't have quit the Bellas immediately. Instead I should've talk to you like an adult" Beca said.

"Well, lucky for you Aubrey didn't accept your apology through Stacie, so you're still a Bella. And as far from not talking to me I can understand that perfectly" the redhead said with a smile.

"It's not like I didn't like it because I did enjoy our kisses. It's just that the way you came on to me that scared the shit out of me. It reminded me of something that happened to me a long time ago" the short brunette said softly.

Chloe could see that something serious was bothering the younger girl, but she didn't want to push her.

"Becs, you don't have to explain anything. I was the one that had gone way to far, you didn't do anything wrong" the redhead said softly.

"I want to explain it" the short brunette insisted.

"Go ahead" Chloe said, noticing how vulnerable the younger girl looked.

"Five years ago, I was in my first real relationship. Jenny was a few years older than me and a lot more experienced. She wanted more than I was ready for at that time."

Chloe's face fell when she heard the start of Beca's explanation. Suddenly she had a bad feeling about what the brunette was going to tell her.

"I tried to tell her I wasn't ready, but she kept pressuring me. She thought I was just shy or something. One day she sort of attacked me. When she noticed that she had scared me, she apologised. I wanted to give her the benefits of the doubt and gave her a second chance. She really did her best to make sure I was comfortable with everything we did. It didn't last very long and she started to get aggressive. She kept pressuring me more and more into things I didn't want to" the brunette said now bitter.

"I was afraid and ashamed of the things that happened to me so I didn't tell anyone about it. Stacie noticed that something wasn't right and she kept asking me what was wrong. Finally I broke and told her what was going. And to this day, I don't know what she exactly did but Jenny broke up with me and I've never seen her since then" Beca finished her explanation.

The redhead didn't respond immediately to what she just heard. She needed some time to let it all sink in. When it did, the pieces of the puzzle fell into their place. Now she could understand why Beca had reacted the way she did. Suddenly she felt ashamed of her actions.

"I'm so sorry for what happened to you. And I'm so so sorry for what I did. I really didn't mean to scare you" the redhead said now softly.

"It's okay. You didn't know" Beca said

" No it's not okay. Nobody should go through such things as you did" the redhead said upset.

"It happened. I can't turn back what happened. It just made me really careful in who I trust. I made a mistake by trusting her. She was supposed to be my girlfriend bit she turned out to be some kind of monster" the brunette said dryly.

Chloe didn't know what to say to that. It was true that Beca couldn't change what had happened. But she could change the way she handled things in the future. She didn't want to be a person like Jenny had been. She felt bad that she was responsible for triggering memories that the other girl clearly had wanted to forget. She needed some time alone to process everything she had heard. She needed to think about her own actions and what they had caused, but she didn't want to leave the short brunette alone.


	7. Chapter 7

That night Chloe couldn't sleep. She hadn't been prepared for what Beca had told her earlier that day. The younger girl's story kept going through her head.

She admired the brunettes strength and her courage to tell her why she had reacted the way she did. She didn't own the redhead an explanation yet she had given one without hesitation. That must mean that Beca somehow trusted her and she was honoured.

But she couldn't help but feel guilty. If she had known that her actions triggered something so horrible, she wouldn't have kissed the brunette. It was a hard lesson she would never forget. In the future she would try to remember to respect other people's boundaries and privacy. She never wanted that something like this happened again.

She sighed and climbed out of bed. She knew she couldn't sleep anymore if she didn't talk to anyone. She left her room and knocked in the door on the opposite of the hallway. Hopefully Bree was still awake.

She needed her best friend and she needed her now. She also knew Bree would reprimand her for the things she had done, but she also knew her best friend wouldn't be mad at her.

In another house not far from the redhead, a tiny brunette slept peacefully. For the first time in a long time she didn't woke up during the night thinking about things she rather forgot.

After the redhead had left, she had felt relieved. Outside Stacie, she trusted Chloe even though the older girl had teased her the past few months.

She had thought earlier about telling Chloe what she had gone through years ago. She had never found the courage to open up. The whole kissing situation had made her think and she had known that now was the time to tell Chloe what had happened.

Secretly she had a crush on the redhead and she had never could've dreamed that she would ever kiss her. She hoped that opening up to the redhead would create a chance that one day they could start a relationship. Not now but one day in the future maybe. Now she wasn't ready to be in a relationship. She knew that it was now the time for the healing process of what happened to her was about to start.

That's what she had said to Stacie earlier this evening. She had called the leggy brunette to tell her what had happened today.

Stacie had praised her and told her how proud she was. All those years, the tall brunette had been there for her when she had needed her. Stacie had always been there to protect her. She even had declined a full scholarship to Harvard so she could join Beca at Barden. She was extremely grateful for having such a loyal best friend.

The blonde Bella captain was instantly awake when she heard a knock on her door. The whole day she had a feeling that her best friend would come to her to talk. She knew that the redhead had talked to Beca. And knowing Chloe the way she did, she knew it would be sooner or later before she would come to her. And that it would be probably in the middle of the night. The redhead couldn't keep anything secret for her.

For the first time in four days, the leggy brunette slept well. The past few nights and days she had been worried about her best friend. It was almost if she had expected a call in the middle of the night that something terrible had happened to her best friend.

Today she could finally let go of all her worries and concerns regarding the smaller brunette. Beca had sounded different when she spoke to her on the phone. She had sounded more happy and relaxed. When Beca had told her that she had talked to Chloe and told her everything, she instinctively knew that her best friend was beginning the healing process. She couldn't have been prouder of the young girl and she had told her that. She hoped that things finally would get better for her friend.


	8. Chapter 8

"Becs, are you ready? If we don't leave now, Aubrey is going to kill us" Stacie asked her best friend.

"Why are we doing this again? Or better question. Why did I agree to participate?" the shorter brunette whined.

"Because you're a Bella. Because Aubrey realised after your mini breakdown, that there is more than just being a Bella. Come on, it will be fun. We all could use a weekend away" Stacie answered.

Beca still couldn't believe how she ended up in this situation. Three weeks ago she was determined that the best thing was quitting the Bellas, now she was on her way to a bonding weekend with said Bellas.

A lot had happened in those three weeks, good things, but Beca still needed some time to adjust to the fact that she had now a lot of friends that were girls. After her conversation with Chloe, she had gone back to the Bellas. They all had welcomed her back. No one had asked any questions about why she had wanted to quit. Not even Fat Amy had asked any questions. She was sure Aubrey had something to do with it. That girl's deadly glares were enough to shut everyone up.

Just a week ago, the blonde had announced that they would go a weekend away to bond or some shit. Of course she had been against the whole idea of spending a weekend in a forest with her fellow Bellas, but naturally nobody listened to her complaints.

So here she was. Sitting in the Bellas bus between Chloe and Stacie. Or laying was more accurate. With her head in Chloe's lap and her feet in Stacie's, she was pretty comfortable. She had her headphones in to drown out the noise and to prepare for the weekend.

She wasn't exactly keen to share her secrets, but she knew that she couldn't escape that part. She didn't trust easily, but somehow she knew she could trust them all. Well, except maybe for Lilly. That girl still freaked her out sometimes after the six months she knew her. Deep in her heart she knew these girls wouldn't judge her. Each and every one of them had showed her that they cared about her. Deep inside she knew that they all would be friends for life.

After three and a half hours, that included two sanitary stops, they had finally reached their destination.

Acorn Camp was a retreat located in the middle of a forest. There was no WiFi and the mission of the retreat was to bring the groups of people that stayed here closer to each other. Without WiFi or other modern technology, people were forced to interact with each other. That way they would build bonds that lasted a lifetime. At least that is what the brochure of the retreat promised.

After Ashley had parked the bus, they gathered their belongings. Now they had to wait until their assigned counsellor, would come up to them and tell them what they were expected to do this weekend.

Impatiently they all waited. The drive here had made them all cranky and tired. A black haired woman came into their direction.

"That must be our counsellor for the weekend" Aubrey said as she pointed to the woman.

Beca almost fainted when the woman was close enough so that you could see her face.

"Hi, my name is Jenny. I'm your counsellor for the weekend. You must be the Barden Bellas."


	9. Chapter 9

Before anyone could say something, Stacie took over. She took a step closer to the dark haired woman, preventing her to go to Beca.

"You" she said through gritted teeth.

Without her eyes ever leaving the woman, she started to bark orders at the Bellas.

"Chloe take Beca back to the bus and stay there. Legacy, Flo, Jessica and Ashley go with them."

Something in her voice must've have warned them that something was wrong because they followed her orders without asking any questions.

The remaining Bellas, with the exception of Aubrey, didn't know what was going on. The blonde leader had made the connection when she saw Beca's panicking look as soon as the woman had introduced herself.

"Hello Stacie, it's been a long time since I saw you" the woman said with a a fake smile.

"Yeah, well not long enough" the tall brunette answered.

"Come on Stacie. That's no way to greet an old friend" the woman said.

"You're no friend of mine. I think it's better that you change with one of your colleagues. I don't want you near me or Beca" the tall brunette said angrily.

"Please Stacie, it's been five years. She must gotten over it by now" Jenny said sarcastically.

"I warn you Jenny, do as I say and stay the hell away from Beca."

"Let me talk to her. She probably think it's nice to see her first girlfriend ever again" the dark haired woman said.

"You bitch. You really have no idea what you put her through, do you?" the leggy brunette asked.

"I didn't put her trough anything. She was the one who said yes" the woman said sweetly.

Hearing Jenny say those things made her blood boil. She was about to hit the woman but was stopped by Cynthia Rose and Fat Amy.

"Stacie stop! Whatever it is she did, it's not worth it. It's not going to help Beca when you're arrested for assault" Aubrey said.

"Lilly" the brunette called.

Out of nowhere the quiet Bella seemed to appear, with a devilish smile on her face.

"I'll fix this" she whispered.

 _The Bellas bus_

" _Beca, are you okay?"_

 _Five sets of eyes looked at her in concern. She knew she had some explaining to do. But not now. Now she was still to shaken about what happened. Out of all the people that worked here, Jenny had to be their counsellor for the weekend._

 _A million memories flooded through her mind. One particular memory stood out above the others. That one memory that made her go to Stacie._

 _Oh God, Stacie._

 _Thinking of her best friend that was now facing her worst enemy made her hyperventilate. What if Jenny did something to hurt her? She couldn't even protect herself against Jenny let alone that she could protect her best friend._

 _She felt like she was suffocating and breathing became harder and harder._

 _She could hear the voices of the Bellas that surrounding her but she couldn't understand what they were saying. All she could think of was her best friend. And the danger she was in right now. Jenny was a psychopath. A psychopath that only cared about herself._

" _Beca!"_

 _From a distance she could hear Chloe calling her name._

 _She knew that if she wanted to get out of this state, that she had to focus on the redheads voice. With every strength she had left in her tiny body, she focused on Chloe's voice._

 _The redheads voice was sweet and calm. The more she concentrated on that voice the calmer she became. To the point that she was pulled out of her dark memories. When she was calmed down enough she became aware of her surroundings._

 _She was safe. She was in the Bellas bus. Five sets of eyes were looking at her in shock, but she was safe._

" _Beca, are you okay?" the redhead asked again._

" _Yeah, I'm fine"_

 _Jessica offered her a bottle of water which she gladly accepted._

" _I'm sorry guys, for scaring the shit out of you" she said._

" _It's okay. We're your friends. We got your back" the redhead assured her._

" _Who was that woman" Legacy asked._

 _The young Bella was still a bit shocked about everything she had just witnessed._

 _Before she could start to explain things, the door of the bus opened. Stacie and the rest of the Bellas came in. The tall brunette immediately walked over to her best friend, wrapping her arms around the shorter brunette._


	10. Chapter 10

_Cuffed to a headboard. Hands that hit her. A voice screaming at her. Calling her things that made her feel less than a human being. Two hands wrapped around her throat. Crying, she didn't know if it was her who was crying or the other girl. And apologies, promises that from now on things would go better._

 _Those were some of the memories that went through Beca's mind when she sat there in the camp's cabin._

 _Was it really only two hours ago since she saw the woman who was responsible for the majority of her bad memories?_

"Are we getting an explanation for what happened?"

Fat Amy's question brought her back to reality.

Tired, ashamed and emotionally drained, Beca looked around the circle of girls. The same girls that were her friends. The girls that had helped her less than two hours ago, by protecting her against her old girlfriend.

She studied the faces of her friends before she answered the question that was so bluntly asked. Chloe and Stacie looked concerned. Legacy, Jessica and Ashley looked shocked. Cynthia Rose and Flo looked confused. Aubrey looked at her with an expression she never had seen on the blondes face. It was a mixture of anger and softness. She could feel that the anger wasn't directed towards her, the soft expression however was meant for her. The expression of the large Australian girl was curious.

And then there was Lilly. The quiet Bella just sat there with a serene expression. She just had walked into the cabin twenty minutes ago with an too satisfied expression. One look at her face and they all knew that she had done something. Something nobody wanted to know.

"I know you deserve an explanation for what happened. And I will give it to you" the tiny brunette said with a raspy voice.

"Take your time, Beca. We're not going anywhere" the blonde leader said unexpectedly friendly.

She took a sip of water, screwed the cap back on the bottle. She took a deep breath and looked at Chloe and Stacie and nodded. The two girls knew instantly that she was ready to tell her story. They changed places so that they were seating next to her, each of them grabbing a hand, squeezing it to reassure her that they were there for her.

"Jenny, the counsellor you just met, was my first girlfriend. As you could see she was a lot older than me. I was thirteen when I met her and she was nineteen at the time."

"We didn't start anything until I was fifteen. I had a hard time at home and she made me feel like I was special. She made me feel like I did mattered. That I was worth walking around this earth" her voice trembled when she thought back at those times.

"It's okay Becs. You're doing great" Chloe whispered in her ear.

"With Jenny being much older than me, it meant that she was more experienced than me. She made me feel that it didn't matter. She made me feel special. I was a confused teenager and she took advantage of that."

"I just had discovered that I was gay, something that wasn't accepted by my father. Besides Stacie I didn't have anyone to talk about it."

"One day after my dad had seen me kissing a girl from school, things were getting out of hand. He was angry and yelled at me. Saying things that girls like me were going to end up in Hell. That night Jenny came by and saw how upset I was. I trusted her and told her what happened. I was afraid she would hate me too, but to my surprise she was really understanding about the whole issue."

"A few weeks later we started a relationship. In the beginning she was very sweet. She thought me everything I needed to learn about womens bodies and stuff like that. But her being older meant that she wanted more. I wasn't ready to go further but I was also afraid to lose the only person that understood me. She worked very subtle to get what she wanted. She pushed me to go over my boundaries every time we were together. To the point were she got aggressive and blackmailed me to telling everything to my father if I didn't do what she want."

"Somehow she noticed, she went to far. She cried and apologised. She promised that she would slow down. I was naive and believed her. By that time I was dramatically changed. I felt worthless, insecure and didn't trust anyone anymore. I thought I deserved this and became more quiet. Nobody seemed to notice how I changed. Except Stacie. She had asked me numerous times what was going on. Afraid of the consequences, I kept my mouth shut. One day she noticed some bruises on my body. They were the result of one of Jenny's games that went out of control. Not able to stay silent anymore, I eventually told her what was going on. To this day I still don't know what she said to Jenny, but I haven't seen her ever since, until today" Beca said softly.

She didn't dare to look up and face her friends. She was still afraid that she would be judged. If she had faced them, she would've noticed that they didn't judge her. They felt sorry for her for the things she had gone through but they didn't pity her.

"Wow Shortstack, that's pretty heavy" Cynthia Rose said.

Slowly Beca looked up to look each of her friends in the eyes. She was surprised to see compassion instead of disgusting looks. The last one she looked in the eyes was Chloe.

She had an unspoken question in her eyes and the redhead just nodded at her. They both knew that this wasn't the end of this horrible story. Beca cleared her throat and continued her story.

"A few weeks ago when I had ended my late night shift at the radio station, I ran into Chloe. Before I could say something to her, she pushed me against the wall and kissed me. I was shocked but still kissed her back. Actually we kissed twice. Her actions triggered memories I desperately wanted to forget. That's why I quitted so unexpectedly" she ended her story.

Now everyone understood what had happened and why the tiny brunette had reacted with quitting. The Bellas looked now at Chloe, who's face matched her hair.

"It's true what she said. I didn't know it at the time. I never expected that my actions triggered something so horrible and I apologised to her when she told me what happened" the redhead said ashamed.

"It happened. We're not here to judge each other. Beca's story made me realise that there is more in life than being a Bella. If we want to make it work, we need to trust each other, know each other so that we have each others backs when something happens" Aubrey said.

They all looked at their captain and realised that her words were true. What Beca had gone through was indeed horrible, but every one of them had their own story. Their own demons they had to fight to become where they were now in life.


	11. Chapter 11

_**Three years later**_

 _That bonding weekend away in the forest, turned into a solid foundation for the Bella. Everything they had become now had found its foundation in that outing years before._

 _Being open and honest with each other became the basis for their strong friendship. In that forest they had learned about each others weaknesses, fears and insecurities. That wasn't the only things they had learned about each other. Because they knew each other through and through, they also knew each other strengths. Most of the time they knew enough just by looking at each other._

 _For Beca the weekend in the forest had been a turning point. The courage she had shown by being open, honest and vulnerable changed her for the better. Along with the help of the Bellas, she learned to trust other people besides Stacie._

 _The change wasn't overly dramatic or noticeable to strangers, but the ones that were close to her noticed it. It had also changed her view on how relationships worked._

 _With the support of her fellow Bellas and Chloe's unconditional patience, she finally found love again. She and Chloe have been an item for almost a year now._

After being together for four years in the same a capella group and sharing the same house for two years, the Bellas got along very well most of the time. Knowing each others quirks and perks contributed a lot to their group dynamic.

Lately their group dynamic was a little disrupted. It all started after Fat Amy's wardrobe malfunction in front of the president that was broadcasted live on national television.

Almost everyone in America had seen how the large Bella had shown her 'thunder from down under' to the president of the United States of America.

It had caused them a lot of trouble. The had to apologise on national television. But the damage was already done. They had received a ton of threatening letters. Their house was a target to be egged by whoever felt the need to do it. A lot of their already booked performances were cancelled.

Now they were on their way to the Dean of students affairs. He had sent them an official letter were he invited them for a formal meeting between the school and the people of the a capella society or something like that. It was an invitation they couldn't decline.

"Come on guys. Keep on moving, we don't want to be late" Beca said to the girls.

"I'm so not happy about this. I didn't failed Russian lit so many times to stay a Bella" the redhead complaint.

"Relax Chlo, it's just a conversation. What's the worst that can happen? It's not like they gonna burn us for witchcraft" the small brunette said to calm her girlfriend.

"We're over!" the redhead exclaimed defeated after they had left the Dean's office.

"So now we're just a bunch of girls that hang out" Stacie concluded.

"What's wrong with that?" Cynthia Rose want to know.

"It could be worse. In my country we would've been hanged" Flo said optimistically.

"Worse Flo? Are you serious? We're stripped of our national title, we're replaced by the European Champions and we can't hold any auditions" the redhead said.

"And we won't be singing the national anthem at the Puppy Bowl" Jessica and Ashley said simultaneously.

"Come on guys! We still have a chance. All we have to do is win the World's and then they promised that they would clear our name" Beca said to cheer up her team.

"You have it easy. You all be graduate this year. I have to build up a complete team all alone next year" Legacy said sadly.

"If we still exist by then" Chloe said.

"I will do whoever it takes" Stacie said.

"You mean _whatever_ it takes" Cynthia Rose corrected her.

"Yeah, that too."

Beca's phone started to buzz and she drowned out the rest of the conversation. She quickly walked away to answer it. Her heart skipped a beat when she recognised the number. This could be the biggest opportunity in her life so far.

"Beca Mitchell" she said politely as she answered the call.


End file.
